Amin Abbas

Abu Dhabi Gaming, an initiative set-up by the Abu Dhabi government to foster and grow the UAE’s gaming sector, announced its first-ever participation in the prestigious Tokyo Game Show.

In a significant move to spotlight the UAE’s rapidly expanding gaming and esports industry, Abu Dhabi Gaming will be featuring four local UAE game studios at the event, showcasing their innovative games and talent to Japanese consumers, game publishers, and potential partners.

Marcos Muller-Habig – Director, Abu Dhabi Gaming, said exclusively to Arab News Japan about their highlights and activities at the event.

“Tokyo Game Show is one of the biggest trade shows for the gaming industry. After the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of the gaming focused shows closed or merged, so there aren’t nearly as many events as there used to be. We are incredibly excited not only to have been invited to host a booth at Tokyo Game Show, but we are bringing 4 of our amazing studios with us to showcase the talent of Abu Dhabi.

“These studios are Hypemasters, Afterwork Games, Khosouf and Kashkool, all of them a part of the Abu Dhabi Gaming community.”

Hypemasters will be showcasing their game “World War Armies” which has just been released on August 24.

World War Armies is a multiplayer real-time strategy game that will constantly put a player’s strategic thinking and decision-making skills to the test. Their aim is to playtest anime strategy games and gather feedback from players in Tokyo Game Show.

Afterwork Games will be showcasing their game “Balance Party” in both volumes 1 and 2 during Tokyo Game Show.

Khosouf Studios will pre-launch “Hype” in Tokyo Game Show in 2024. Also, they will be showcasing their flagship title “Shadow Dreams” which is set to release in 2025. They are currently development partners and publishers with PlayStation.

Kashkool Games’ title is called “Sheba: A New Dawn” which will be showcased in Tokyo in 13 different languages.

Sheba: A New Dawn is an action-RPG Metroidvania that takes players on a unique and immersive journey to explore a vast, mysterious world filled with challenging gameplay and a captivating storyline packed with unexpected twists.

About the expectations of Abu Dhabi Gaming of their participation at TGS 2024, Habig said: “Our expectations is to establish relationships within the gaming industry and showcase to businesses and to the public that Abu Dhabi is present in the gaming space and is a destination for studios looking to establish themselves in the MENA region.”

“Our mission is to raise awareness about the UAE’s booming gaming and esports sectors while providing a platform for our local studios to shine on the global stage,” Habig said. “Through our participation at the Tokyo Game Show, we are eager to engage with the Japanese gaming community, including publishers and partners, to explore collaborations that will forge new relationships and further support the growth of our studios.”

Regarding Abu Dhabi Gaming upcoming projects following their participation at Tokyo Games Show 2024, Habig said: “This year is a very ambitious year for us; we will be hosting a Game Jam in November, partnered with the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center around the preservation of the Arabic language. This 2-day event that sees students develop a game from scratch will showcase the young talent that exists in Abu Dhabi and how games really support cultural and historical preservation initiatives. We also have the MENA launch for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 happening in October, as well as other events we will be announcing shortly.”